Mark 4:1-20 NRSVue
1Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. 7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”
10When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables, 12in order that
‘they may indeed look but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”
13And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
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Reflection on Mark 4:1-20
Inspiration from 2025-01-29 Daily Prayer
As we listen to the words of this gospel it will be helpful to reflect on our own lives and to recall how the seed of the word of God found a different reception in us at different times. Let us acknowledge that in varying degrees we have been the rocky and dry ground and the thorny ground, as well as the good soil. We ask for the grace to be open to God’s working in our lives.
At our baptism we received the gift of the Holy Spirit, opening us to receive the seed of the Word of God. Our subsequent Christian formation led to the silent maturing of the seeds of our Christian lives. But many things can block the growth of this life within us. Let us reflect in prayer where the precious seeds may have become withered or parched through our neglect, and also where they have become fruitful.